UMECUnited Mining Exploration Commission: A group of friends playing JumpGate-- "a MMORPG that launched smoothly, breaks from fantasy character setting, emphasizes PvP, and is the first persistent world space simulator that nobody talks about." ~Scorch

After an uncomfortably long hiatus, epic non-linear space sims seem to be making a comeback. Made popular originally by the likes of Elite, Starflight, and Privateer, the sub-genre has been largely overshadowed in recent years by more linear, story-oriented games… the prodigal children of Wing Commander and X-Wing. All that is poised to change in the near future, as developers both large and small announce plans to revisit the Elite-style game en masse. Start-up developer NetDevil has thrown their hat in the ring with an online offering and Jumpgate looks like it could be a contender.

Unlike other online persistent-world games such as EverQuest and Ultima Online, NetDevil's space epic will not feature separate worlds or shards with set player limits. Instead, the game will offer one continuous interstellar setting composed of distinct zones of space connected by portals (or "jumpgates," as the title would imply) that allow players to travel the vast differences between the zones quickly. The zone structure also allows NetDevil to distribute the server load by running groups of zones on separate servers. By adding new servers (and new zones to go with them) they claim that the game world will be able to expand to support a "virtually unlimited" number of players. Within the game world, players will choose to swear allegiance to one of [Three] factions, each of which grants distinct strengths and weaknesses. Players get ahead in the world primarily by selling their abilities as pilots, and the game offers a variety of activities for players to pursue in both combat (joining fighter squadrons or space caravans) and non-combat (mining, trading) varieties. The ships— over 50 of them— will feature detail flight models that combine elements of Newtonian physics with less realistic (but for many players more recognizable) drag elements typical of atmospheric flight.

NetDevil [and MightyGames, the European publisher, mainly] distribute the software for free over the Internet and charge players only for monthly usage [current]. While theoretically beneficial to the consumer, the marketing difficulties involved with such an Internet-only business plan proved fatal to Multitude's otherwise excellent Fireteam, and it remains to be seen whether internet-only publishing can translate into respectable sales for even a small developer.

There are no RPG "Classes", "Skills" nor "Attributes" that artificially define a JumpGate pilot, as in a normal RPG. There are "Experience & Levels" for the Achiever types, and "Registry Class" for the Killer types, but the latter does not tie you down since switching registry is merely a click away (though be warned that there is no PvP-switch, nor PvP-zone, that makes you invulnerable to other players, except when you're between lvl0-3). So, the only true "RPG" element in Jumpgate is the "Experience" system and the numerous ways to gain such. (whether by scripted mission templates or freewheeling combat bounties on AI monsters, Hidden artifacts in deep space & special asteroids that spawn randomly; unfortunately there are no "player" defined missions currently, but NetDevil plans on adding something along those lines once EP2 arrives)

'Episode2:The attack of the conflux' official expansion ad campaign is located here: (US server; EU server)...And since Episode2 has finally been released as of March19th, 2003, you can head over to the EP2 FAQ by clicking here

In other words, you don't jump into the game with access restricted merely by your ingame cash flow, but have restrictions on what you can buy based on the "RPG" quality of The Levelling Treadmill; The higher my pilot's "Level" the larger a ship chassis i can buy, and buy more powerful gear for my ship. (If you "crash" your pilot never dies or loses experience for doing so, but all the gear/cargo you bought for your chassis is destroyed. You have insurance that's automatic and gives you most of the pre-tax gear cost/cargo that you lost. There's a few strange things that require suspension of disbelief. the first one is that you appear instantly back at your home station regardless of the distance involved. The second is that while you lost all your gear and cargo you're in the same ship you had before you crashed. (both cases are merely for your convenience and should be forgive, yes? Gameplay over Realism)
As for the physics of flying and ship controls? It's pretty realistic enough to warrant a solid "Flight-Sim" medal of honour. So much so that vertigo is a very real hazard. I could use some high-falutin' language right now like "Fuzzy Newtonian Physics" but i admit i haven't a bloody clue what that means, nor would that help you understand. To use layman terms, you don't "point and click" to do much of anything in space -- and when you start moving around you'll find that the game's no "Space Opera" where Luke Skywalker rips it up....though it's not completely realistic since if you cut your engines you start slowing down. noticeably (unless your really heavy). Full joystick support and no "point and click" in the flight/combat engine at all will be bound to please the Killer types

As for personal avatars and ship customization? Well, unfortunately there's absolutely zilch in that department (even the gear you can buy is basically a single optimal item with no variation; no ability to trade quality in shielding for a better weapon loadout or whatever.)

The is a total lack of background story, compared to such games with a wealth of material to inspire Fan Fiction and Player storylines and events like Eve-online, StarWarsGalaxies, Earth&Beyond and a host of other MMOGs that are of the Sci-Fi RPG genre. (remember, JumpGate is as far from RPG as can be, so the developers kinda skimped on the backstory)

As for those wishing for some continuity in this persistent universe, one merely needs to note that as the Developers (netdevil) add to our world, the storyline naturally progresses in tandem. (Since there are two publishers, there are two storylines that have begun to be distinct from each other the longer this persistent universe continues to exist)

...A number of players are attempting to build consensus, because we're sick of this attitude that we're building backstory as we go along, and are asking some hard questions of the official GMs. So this lack of backstory may yet be literally a thing of the past (no pun intended)
:read: :grin: :read:
Unfortunately for the Socializer types, the ingame chat system that allows players to communicate via text is spartan bordering on austere. (ie. It's like being sent to a monastery compared to the MMOG RPG genre; NetDevil is apparently working on improving this for EP2.)

what sort of institutions exist in the game worlds--trading consortiums? Pirate bands? Military fleets? Governments? What's the universe like?

The only element that counts is whether or not i am part of a Squad JG squad index. There are almost 100 squads (of more than 5 pilots each)listed on JOSSH. I am a member of UMEC squad, a nonpvp oriented Merchant and Exploration community.

Pirates? Military fleets? Governments? These are unofficial creations of players (usually a squad or group of squads), with a very noticable lack of official game engine tools for these types of activities. Currently, there is no ability to effectively pirate, or conduct cargo scans, or form multisquad alliances....though there are, of course, unofficial "Storylines" on these subjects, especially by experience combat veterans (ie. "elitist pricks" who tend to think F5:help chat booth is a free-for-all sandbox; Too bad most PvPers are just plain no-talent powergamers. blech.)
BTW, there is no player-run governments and no way to influence the universe through politics, because there's none coded and the one thing that has been coded is cosmetic at best and a joke at worst (see here for the official blurb), unless one wants to deal with GMs roleplaying through NPCs during official events. (ie. freeform roleplaying is basically the only way to influence the official storyline. even then it's hit and miss with the emphasis on the latter verb...Employees of the company running the server are legendary in their ability to perform verbal "Slight-of-hand")...NetDevil is in the process of coding the tools i've mentioned, but nothing at the moment, sorry. Episode2 has been overdue for almost a full year now.

The universe? Well, there's no silly polygon landscape to walk over, for one thing. There are polygons to stare at like asteroids and swirly jumpgate "bridges" that serve as links to other "maps" ...Though, at present the lack of tutorials and hints leaves newbies feeling VERY lost and alone in a vertigo inducing universe.

Each "map", or zone if you will, is connected by one or more portals...note you cannot travel between sectors without using these portals, and the dimensions of each sector are infinite. (Although there's not much out beyond a 5 minute trip; Each "map" is self-contained and no matter how far you travel in one direction you'll never enter another "Map"/'Sector'/"Zone")

Space stations aren't in every sector, but there's enough to serve as trading centers and make life difficult for newbies that don't know how to dock safely yet. (there's *IS* autodock *g* Please note that there are no planets to walk around on, nor land on)

The majority of the static objects you'll see in space are non-targetable (rumors of a roid modx though) asteroids that never disappear or move...though NetDevil just coded in new temporary, random objects of great worth for us Explorer types. Planets are simply animated 2D objects placed on a few map backgrounds...There is no orbiting asteroid fields around planets, nor is there an ability to land on said planets. (there is an *IC justification for this that says our pilots are genetic freaks in order to use the jumpgates and one handicap is no landing on planets. the other one is our balls drop off, but hey!)

If that magazine [PCGamer] is continually receiving requests for coverage on a title (for example an MMORPG that launched smoothly, breaks from fantasy character setting, emphasizes PvP, and is the first persistent world space simulator that nobody talks about), they will cover it.

okay, so you're browsing the sites and forums trying to find out the real skinny on JG and don't care for namby-pamby PR flak one expects to see on the back of game boxes. You've come to the right place, my friend.

For starters, if you've ever played the WingCommander series of games then think of a multiplayer Privateer:wing commander and tack on the words "persistent universe on one server with friendly fire enabled"

APPENDIX
If you're interested in trying this game out, i highly recommend your first stop be this thread: n00b PrimerJumpGate billing FAQ. (note: it talks about free trial stuff as well)

Last edited by MajorFreak on Thu Feb 06, 2003 4:38 am; edited 13 times in total

Yes, Jumpgate is a great game, but be wary. It's very easy to get so involved, so immersed, that when something bad happens to you, you feel it personally. The first time you get ripped by another pilot, you'll feel shocked, then angry, and you may well ask why the hell you're playing the stupid game when you're just going to get ganked by some random passerby. But soon after that, you start to realize that Jumpgate is more than just a space sim: it's a society. You form relationships with other pilots in the game. If you join a squad, they become like your family. You notice that some people in the game have made themselves famous -- or infamous -- and anyone can do the same. By paying attention to the forums here and at http://forums.jossh.com (at least for the US server), you get a glimpse into the in-game politics motivating the pilots in the game to act as they do. And as a Jumpgate pilot, you have a chance to add as little or as much to the game world as you want.

Jumpgate is plain fun to play, there's no doubt there. The physics engine is superb, the challenges are good, and the rewards are frequent for those who work for them. But the fun doesn't end when you dock your ship and sign out. It's up to you to decide just how deep you want to go.

As the header of the JOSSH page says: "Welcome to your next life... there's nothing you can't do."

On reading this i had to make an "Honest" reply, as a pretty near n00b myself (Lvl 5 about to be 6) i use the gust, great ship in my honest opinion, but sux when you die ass to get the power regs etc you need to do multple runs on a ship that uses to much power for the system, but the help ive recieved from the players "WOW" is the only word i can think of!

Was trying to complete a tri mission, maybe a bit more than i should have taken on, but the 15000 xp it offered is irresistable, but boy i found out why the xp was so high, still doing it but taking it more slowly died twice to c6 mantis and c4 and c5 snail fleets hitting me , cant seem to get engines fast enough to outrun em yet!

But in saying this thx to Worfy, sabre_10, slouch etc, for all the help you guys gave, Worfy brokering a pair of deciders (I think lvl 9 guns) for my little gust then on fiding out my lvl giving me them for free, YOU ROCK M*, i came to this game from another online game called PA, and to be honest im ready to give up PA anyway, but this so much remonds me of my childhood love "Elite" and "Frontier : Elite 2", the main differance being multiplayer!

But the main diff ive noticed so far is what a great bunch of players you all are, made a little mistake in killing a flux and hit another player a few times got a bounty on my head, a few asses went for me, but the player i hit defended me and sent them packing recieving a bounty himself for his trouble, cant remember his name, but to be nice like that then to "Escort" me back to a safe base to have my bounty removed, being it was for attacking him in the first place, this sort of "Niceness" and "Honour" isnt to be found anywhere in pa, keep up the good work guys, ive already started bringing a bunch of my pa m8s across, around 40 are joining up as i speak, more to come!

Nice meeting you "Nice Guys" and long live free trade

Rham!

p.s. sorry about the length of the post but just HAD to say how much of a Pleasant change JG is compared to PA, btw PA = Planetarion, for those of you not in the know!

Let me add one thing to this thread, Point & Click requires no learning curve (or very small one), therefore allowing the casual player to be "skilled." This promotes the game to the masses and provides more subscribers. A personal skill based game like JG becomes very frustrating to a large percentage of "noob" subscribers who are looking for something different as they can not easily and quickly enter into a game and excel. Let's be honest a large percentage of American entertainment is 60 minutes or less and if you aren't entertained in that amount of time, then you won't be back.

I love the skill aspect of JG and it is what keeps me here more than anytthing except the people interaction, but it does deter a lot of would be players with a huge learning curve.

Thorshmr wrote:

Here-here, Kelvar!

I've played flight sims of varying types for over 15 years...from Lucas Arts first blockbuster Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, through Falcon3 and 4, into Freespace2, Independance War2, and now JumpGate. If I had to play any one of those with a mouse I never would have bought it. For me, it's the use of a joystick that "sets the mood" of the game, adds that touch of realism.

Yes, I know the mouse/keyboard crowd will argue for the "accuracy" aspect of doing it that way....but if you like your "mood" while playing to emulate what's happening in the game...then there's absolutely no other choice than to use a stick.

Yes, joysticks have varying degrees of learning curves to become proficient at using them, especially if the Z axis is incorporated into a twist feature in the handle. I myself am going to be sliding along that learning curve again real soon as I'm planning on picking up Saitek's new X45 stick/throttle combo unit. This setup is similar to the Thrustmaster styles in that the throttle is a seperate module/handle from the stick and it's base. It's has more buttons than any other stick on the market (over 75 when combined with a preset shift button) so it will enable me to get absolutely everything about controls in JG completely off the keyboard and under my fingertips (except for typing in chat). This shouldn't be too much trouble as I used to use a Thrustmaster setup in Falcon4 and Crimson Skies.....the one feature that I do anticipate needing alot of practice with is that the stick handle itself does not contain the Z axis (no twist). Instead, the Z axis (rudder or twist feature) is operated through a rocker switch in the handle of the throttle situated under your left hands' middle and third fingers when you grip the throttle. But basically it will be more of a necessity of "unlearning" to do 90% of tasks with my right hand and redistributing ingame tasks equally to both hands.

I like challenges like this, when I can add a bit more "realism" to my gaming experience it makes it that much more fun to me, and that's one of the main points of JG that I like the most along with player interaction.

I realize there's a sizeable portion of the gaming community that are casual about it...so casual infact that if they can't master something in an hour they move on. And that's fine for them. But as a die-hard gamer who's serious about both his games and the hardware he uses to play them......I say let em go and so much the better. That makes room for better players who can boost my enjoyment of the game by challenging my abilities as much as the game does

I think i play because i have wanted to play a 1st person space simulator with a joystick in a persistent universe with other people since i was about 12 yrs old. I am now 29, and now that i have found it, i am happy.

I still find it amusing that when i played elite (i.e., 17 yrs ago) i always wanted to build my own space station.... and you thought waiting since september [2002] was bad

Yeah I have been looking at many MMPOG´s over the last year since after playing JG I definetly want a game with a persistant world. But have I found any that I like? Nope... no one even close. All of them are point and click. I hate fookin point and click. Ok Neocron is bit more skill based but you still need to max out your character to be of use. I just cant stand leveling treadmills. JG leveling treadmill is just about as much as I can take but its ok since it only allows you to buy ships and gear. But when it comes to leveling affecting the preformance of my character Im out.

There is no way in hell I can accept that a player who has bashed more monsters then me becomes a better player because the game engine says so. Its ok if someone who has killed 1000000 monsters flux or what ever has developed his personal real life skills at playing the game more then I have.

I want to play the game not have the game engine play it for me.

God bless ND for making games that are based on OUR skill. I doubt wreckage is gonna be point and click

Thorshmr wrote:

Um...yeah....I could be called addicted to this game. That article was an excellent read and gave me good cause to stop and reflect about my past, present, and intended future attitudes towards online gaming.

Recently, during an almost two week enforced downtime due to my ISP/Phone company screwing up a planned upgrade and leaving half the town without phones, I was faced with playing single player games only. Normally, this would not have been a problem. My games library includes many games as old as 15 years...some even require a special boot partition so they'll play on an XP system.

For the first three days I spent my time going thru everything in my inventory, from Warcraft3 all the way back to Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, trying to find something to spark my interest and lend a little entertainment while I was offline. I found that the 'multiplayer' connection button in my more recent games began to mock me when I booted them up and gradually began playing less and less games until, halfway thru the first week I decided to give the comp a rest and explore my DVD/VHS collection....which I continued to do until I could get back online.

Yes, I enjoy (or at least I thought I did) the single player side of games. But in reflection, I've realized one interesting thing.....

It's not just playing the game that is fun and entertaining nowadays.....a big part of the draw of online games (at least for me) is the interaction with real people around the world flying that spaceship/air superiority fighter, driving that tank or sneaking thru the woods waiting to snipe at targets at long range.

Not just mindless slaughter of countless ranks of NPC controlled enemies which, after a few run thru's, get quite predictable in their combat technique.....but the sheer randomness and utter thrill of flying/driving/sneaking alongside and against another player that is by nature completely unpredictable and random in their actions......playing with people is what draws me more towards online gaming.

The first game I ever played online was Mechwarrior 3 (ok, I was a late bloomer to online play), I went on into Mechwarrior 4...then into games such as Crimson Skies, Total Annihilation, and Warcraft/Starcraft. Then, when Netdevil accepted my invitation into their beta test I was introduced to my first taste of Massive Multiplayer Online games.

Since, I've played in several MMOG/MMORG type games. MPBT3025 (which unfortunately never got out of beta) was a twist on the standard battletech universe that, although very fun to play....couldn't match up to Mechwarrior's playability.

At the present time I'm deep into the EVE beta test and fully intend to open a subscription and play that game upon release. It's a very fun, interesting and immersive game with a persistant universe that is one of the most complete and vast of any game I've played online. But EVE will never draw me completely away from playing Jumpgate. EVE and Jumpgate can't really be equated as to which is the better game......they're two completely different styles of game that evoke two completely different levels of entertainment. EVE is a point/clickers dream come true, Jumpgate requires direct control of the pilot. In EVE you create, build up, and conduct operations within an RPG structure that is similar to the old D&D board games (but much much better), Jumpgate leaves open a virtually unlimited RPG aspect that is completely up to the player to introduce, build up, and operate within.

Jumpgate is the first and only game of it's type. A distillation of other games such as FreeSpace and FS2, Independence War2 and others (Elite, Privateer, Tachyon, Allegiance). That 's what makes Jumpgate so great....the fact that it takes a little from many, many other worlds and universes and coalesces them into a single working universe that endures over time.

Ok, the leveling/experience aspect can be a treadmill....but only if you let it. Now that I've had a taste of life after Opty, I've come to look at the game like this.....the time spent levelling up, gaining experience, building cash reserves....was time spent developing my character/pilot. Now, post Opty, after spending that time in "R&D", I can now actually 'play' Jumpgate.....I'm free to roam the heavens, be the bad boy or the white knight as my whims take flight...there are no boundaries.

I've played this game for a long time, from week two of the beta until now. In several guises and using several accounts thru the years (non of them concurrently) and Jumpgate still holds my interest and ceaselessly entertains like no other. I look forward to EP2 as a widening of this already immense universe that will bring with it a multiplying of the perceived limitless nature of life throughout the TRI galaxy.

Call me a fanboi, a yes man, whatever.....but no matter what other games I find to play, you'll still find me plying the spaceways in Jumpgate on a regular basis far into the future

privateer1: DynamicRealContent reduced to political attitudes towards you in the form of NPC reactions. plus you could pirate and tractor the loot.
freelancer: DynamicRealContent reduced to the above, plus alot of pseudo-dynamics like "formation mode", "bribing", "distrupting TradeLanes". plus you could tractor loot.
jumpgate: DynamicRealContent comes into it's own. Unfortunately, the asshole factor is in play when this happens, so you get to deal with that disgusting RL phenomenon of _realpolitik_ (EP2 release: if yer stinking rich you can afford a player owned station; if you're in a squad you can attempt to control a sector for "points"; if you want to roleplay you'd better be decent or get laffed at)
Earth&Beyond --------- dunno ---------

privateer1: freeform missions were fun since you had cargo space in the tarsus that was equal if not in the same vein as the heavy cargos.
freelancer: adequate missions and adequate cargo space = borrrrrring as hell
jumpgate: money and XP levels become independent from each other, and low level cargo space combined with counter-intuitive mission reward system makes freelancer look like an orgy with you and a bevy of playboy bunnies.
Earth & Beyond: I heard they have 3 times the level maximum that JG has

privateer1: shoot ships for k3wl l3wt!
freelancer: shoot ships for k3wl l3wt!
jumpgate: shoot ships for 1337 stats and justify that with a /give demand being refused in the first five seconds. (EP2: piracy tools allow you to loot for real; unfortunately, they kept the jury-rig /give command - guess who whines the loudest? you guessed it! PKgriefing stat padders who think /give is 1337 roleplaying sk1llz)
Earth & Beyond: I heard PvP was impossible in the true sense of the word. (ie. nonconsentual = true PvP)

privateer1: persistence? uhm....random market stocks and prices
freelancer: persistence? uhm....pseudo-dynamic NPC economy (emphasis on pseudo)
jumpgate: persistence? uhm...dynamic NPC economy (markets are more influenced by hidden activity than player mining...it's slowly changing for the better tho) Plus, player statistics comes into it's own at www.jossh.com (it's a MMOG the servers are 24/7, but the population base is resembles a niche market game -- ~5000+)
Earth & Beyond: it's a MMOG

privateer1: mining? is that when i fly really fast and asteroids chase me?
freelancer: mining? HAHAHAH
jumpgate: exploration comes into it's own.
Earth & Beyond: I heard it's possible, but i heard EvE-online's unique focus on the importance of mining has been exploited already in betatest.

to me PS kinda felt like Neocrap...errr...NeoCron to an extent but the feel i guess was kinda like UT of Quake. Dunno I only played it for like a day then i gave it up. as i said before FPS(1st person shooters) and 1st perspective games(EQ, SWG) don't do it for me. Dunno why. I guess it's because I don't feel like i have total control of what my character does. In JG and EnB i have that feeling of control.

JG will always be #1 to me as a space sim due to it's skill requirement for flight. Nothing comes close to it(for an online only game that is). I-War 2 is awesome for a single player game.

Personally I wish that netdevil would give out the source code so there COULD be mods made but the mods would be sent to ND and they would have to approve it as well as implement it but give credit to the maker of the mod. That in itself would, in my opinion, push JG far and beyond any game out there online AND offline. Why give out the source code? 2 programmers working on this game doesn't do it justice. JG deserves more and better. I'm not throwing any grief at Josh and Istvan. From what I've seen they're doing f*cking awesome jobs. That's just my personal opinion.

Anyways back onto this topic....

For JG to keep losing players from both EU and US is a tragedy. Advertising all you want will only help so much. Content, GM presense(sp?), and above all customer service will keep the current playerbase as well as acquire more. Anyone who's anyone knows that i forked out almost $60 a month to ND because I kept quite a few accounts when i was on the US server. I wasn't the only one who did that though. And myself and those others won't be the last either. As it stands right now JG is in a slump for this year. To put it in perspective I'll put it this way as I see it:

Back in 2000 the WWF(yeah the wrestling thing) they had a horrible year. Their content sucked big time. Near the end of the year they started listening to their fans and changed their content accordingly. They made storylines that were interesting and got new talent to make those new storylines happen. Flip over to JG. 2003 has almost come and gone. Episode 2 was released but was a big let down due to content not being included or not released as scheduled. Again, with just 2 coders working on it the content won't happen. Customer support I feel was also a let down. Content was added but didn't have the awe-inspiring *oomf* it had previous years.

Well the fiscal year of 2003 is over. A new year is starting. New funds and stuff are there(hopefully). Now let's see how Netdevil reacts to this new year and see what they churn out. I'm quite sure once everything is ironed out and new content is released, old players will return(hopefully) as other games that attained their attention will become stagnant. History repeats itself. Yeah you go and try out a new game maybe even play it for a prolonged period of time but you always return to your roots, which for some, is JumpGate.

If I could I'd give Netdevil every penny i had so it could give that much more content and better customer service just so that those players currently playing are satisfied and happy. A happy customer is a paying customer. A paying customer always has friends watching. ;)